


Cancer

by Azkaabanter



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cancer, Dad!Tony, Deathfic, Gen, Son!Peter, Songfic, Superfamily, Whump, ”Cancer” by MCR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-15 23:51:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15424395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azkaabanter/pseuds/Azkaabanter
Summary: Based on the song “Cancer” by My Chemical Romance.——————————————————————Tony has a secret that none of the Avengers could have ever guessed.——————————————————————“I will not kiss you'Cause the hardest part of thisIs leaving you“





	Cancer

“ ** _Turn away_**  
**_If you could get me a drink_**  
**_Of water 'cause my lips are chapped and faded_** ”

 They found out, as of course they would, in the middle of a routine battle. Suddenly the Iron-Man armor wasn’t flying around, blasting at the alien of the week, and Steve was screaming over the comms that ‘ _Iron-Man is down! Requesting assistance-_ ‘

 Peter had been the assistance.

 Together him and Captain America pried open the jammed panels and found Tony, pale and unconscious with minor contusions from falling out of the sky. The rest of the team was asking over and over again what was wrong, but Peter simply stated that Steve and himself would be taking Tony to the hospital if the other heroes thought they would be able to finish up without them. No one protested, so the super-pair got the older hero out of his armor and carried him as gently as they could between them to the nearest hospital.

 That’s when, a few hours later and surrounded by the rest of the Avengers who had finished the fight, they were informed of Tony’s condition.

 “Cancer.” Bruce said, not as a question, but more of a way to confirm it to himself.

 “I apologize, Dr. Banner- I thought you knew.” The doctor said, holding himself impressively well for delivering news that one of their leaders had a deadly disease to a superhero team.

 “How long have you known?” Nat asked. Peter was simply playing with his fingers, suit still on as to protect his identity. The doctor hesitated.

 “About six months now. He’s been coming regularly to hear about new treatments, but because he refused to undergo chemo or radiation, the illness has progressed to stage four.”

 “Six months…” Bruce said, turning and walking away to process the fact that his best friend kept something like that from him for six months. The team was silent for a few moments, before one more voice spoke out.

 “How… how long does, um, does he have?” Spider-Man’s voice filled the room, not only with noise but with tension as well.

 “It’s hard to say. With chemo and radiation, definitely longer than without. But it’s everywhere in him. I’d give him three months, at most.” Despite his attempt to stay calm, Peter’s eyes filled with tears. Steve opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the door to the patient’s quarters swung open and a nurse came out to whisper something in the doctor’s ear. He nodded to her and turned back to the heroes. “I really do apologize…” he took a deep breath, obviously trying to stay calm. Iron-Man was dying in his care. “We’ll call you when he wakes up. For now, I suggest you go home.” And they did- the only one who put up a fight was Peter, who had to be dragged out by Steve, in tears.

 Two months passed. Peter came to visit Tony every day, sometimes even twice per day, when he could manage. He told the man about his day, about the Avengers. They talked about science and robotics and sometimes they worked on Peter’s homework together. But Tony’s pain and fragility was becoming more and more obvious every day. One of his favorite past-times was seeing how long it would take for Peter to stop bothering him about eating- he just wasn’t hungry. He had to be fed through a tube now, because his pride was too large to admit to himself, let alone anyone else, that not eating anything wasn’t okay. That he wasn’t just going through a thing. He was ignoring the fact that he was dying.

 It became tradition for the young hero to pour him a glass of water right when he came in, because his lips were always chapped.

 About a month in, Peter broke down for the first time because Tony told him that he was the sole beneficiary in his will.

 Peter told him that the only thing he wanted from Tony was more time.

 A month after that, the brunette got a phone call a one in the morning saying that his mentor’s heart had stopped for thirty seconds. He rushed to the hospital as quickly as he could, and stayed there until the older man woke up.

 “Peter-“ his voice was weak but still so Tony. The teen had his mentor’s cold hand grasped in his own, tears streaming down his cheeks for the upteenth time that day- that week- that month. “I want you to know…” he looked away, staring out the window to the outside world he knew he would never see again. “the hardest part of this isn’t losing my looks or my strength or any of that shit. It’s leaving you.” He said sincerely, allowing the boy who he’d grown to adore have some closure. He knew what was coming. He was counting down the days.

 “Mr. Stark-“ Peter choked on a sob, knees pained from supporting his body weight for the hours he’d been kneeling next to the hospital bed, but the realization of it not reaching the young hero’s brain.

 “It’s Tony. How many times do I have to say-“ A laugh that Peter knew would have been uproarious if it had come months ago came out light and feeble, and ended in a hacking cough.

 “Do you want me to call a nurse?” The young man asked, but Tony gripping his hand a bit tighter stopped him from standing.

 “I don’t want to die surrounded by people I don’t know, Pete.” His brown eyes were dim and glassy, breathing labored.

 “No, no no no you can’t die. You _can’t_ do this.” Peter cried, tears falling down his face freely. “I-If you die, I feel like that’s on me.” The older man had the nerve to muster a smile at the words.

 “Cheap tactic- using my own words against me.” He smiled. Even though his hair was gone and his cheeks were sunken, it was easy for Peter to see the man who created the Avengers. The man who survived three months held prisoner in Afghanistan. The man who flew a nuke into space, not expecting to come back but did it anyway because that was what was right.

 He was the man who stopped a stupid kid in a cheap plastic Iron-Man mask from getting killed by a robot- then congratulated him.

 “You remember the Stark expo? The one that got attacked?” Peter said quietly after a few moments of loaded silence, slightly marred by the beeping of Tony’s heart monitor and heavy breathing.

 “Yeah.” He said, and it was obvious that one word was a struggle. Peter fought his emotions harder than ever to just stop the tears and be strong like Tony taught him to be.

 “That little kid. The, the one in the Iron-Man mask. The one that you saved. I don’t think I ever told you…” he paused. “that kid, it was me.” Tony smiled and squeezed Peter’s hand softly.

 “I know, Pete.” He said, followed by a cough that could be nothing less than agonizing. Peter put his hand out to stop Tony from continuing, but it was stubbornly ignored. “I saved the letter you wrote me after. It- it always… it always made me smile.” Peter was seconds away from hitting the nurse call button because of how obviously the older man was fighting to get every word out. But he didn’t.

 “You’re the one who inspired me to become Spider-Man after I got my powers… after Ben died. I thought of ignoring them and locking them away to never hurt anyone again but then I thought about you.” The tears were back- it was pointless to try and stop them. They rolled freely down Peter’s pale cheeks and dropped down onto the sterile white blanket. “I thought that if you could fight for what was right, even after all you’d been through, I could too. And I still will. I always will.”

 “Peter…” more coughs, blood splattered on the pristine blanket. “This just isn’t living. I just want you to know that you’re… you’re my son. I love you so much, an-and I need you to, to know that.” The heart monitor started beeping faster, and tears started falling down Tony’s face, pooling in the hollows of his cheeks.

 “I love you too. You’ve been like a dad to me through everything. You’ve never given up on me. Never, not once.” He leaned over and hugged the frail man, nestling his head into the crook of Tony’s neck. “...which is why I have to say I’m sorry for this.” He pulled away and was presented with a questioning look.

 “What are you-“ The young hero stood up and hit the nurse call button, and faded into the background while what felt like an endless stream of doctors and nurses crowded the room. His nails dug into his palms as he walked out, calmly as he could force himself to be while he waited for the inevitable news.

 His spider-sense was never wrong, and after leaving the room he just felt empty.

 The rest of the Avengers were crowded in the waiting room- they were called down when Peter hit the nurse call button. They looked at him expectantly, but other than the obvious tear tracks, not even Natasha could read the boy who usually wore his emotions on his sleeve.

 The first one to approach him was Steve. The supersoldier didn’t say a word before he kneeled down and opened his arms, a silent invitation for comfort which the teen took without hesitation. His shoulders shook with silent sobs, arms wrapped tight around the supersoldier’s neck, eyes squeezed tightly shut.

 He was afraid that if he opened them, he would find that all of this wasn’t, in fact, a nightmare.

 One by one, the rest of the Avengers joined the embrace. Not a single thing was said, but every tear held a thousand words. There wasn’t a single person in that room who wasn’t overcome with the exceptional feeling of loss that draped over them. Soon enough, just as Peter had known, a Doctor came out of the grey swinging doors holding a clipboard close to his chest. All he had to do was nod at the group and they knew.

Tony Stark was gone.

 By the next day it was the top news headline on every TV station, every newspaper, every website; Iron-Man was dead. It was cancer. Not a single website got the details right though, because they either only referred to him as Tony Stark, or Iron-Man.

They forgot best friend.

Mentor.

Hero.

Survivor.

Father.

        “‘ **Cause the hardest part of this  
                      Is leaving you** “

**Author's Note:**

> I was on a 10 hour car trip and... this happened in the last hour. I wanted to make it sadder- I might actually update it later with some edits. Comment if you feel like it!!


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